


Quiet Flower

by starlightwalking



Series: Fëanorian Redemption [9]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Headcanon, more of an essay than a fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25585309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: The story of Quildalótië Ñillendil, wife of Curufinwë Atarinkë.
Relationships: Curufin | Curufinwë/Curufin's Wife
Series: Fëanorian Redemption [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1484228
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Quiet Flower

**Author's Note:**

> Some friends on Discord wanted to hear about my headcanons for Curufin's wife, and I have a LOT of them, so thus this was born - and since I don't plan on ever really fic'ing her story in full, but it is relevant to my Fëanorian Redemption series, I thought I could share it here, too.

Quildalótië Ñillendil is the name of the woman who becomes Curufin's wife. Her ataressë, Quildalótië, means "quiet flower;" her amilessë, Ñillendil, means "friend of stars."

Her father, Cundondur ("servant of a lord"), is one of Fëanor’s friends/lords, and her mother, Liatamë ("thread maker"), is a seamstress who knew Míriel (they weren’t close, but they ran in the same circles and respected each other). Quilla and Curvo met each other through their fathers, and she quickly fell in love with him - he was besotted with her, too, but it took Tyelkormo knocking some sense into him for him to actually realize that and start courting her (like father, like son - Fëanor also took awhile to realize he was in love with Nerdanel!).

Like her name implies, Quilla is very shy and soft-spoken, so it’s not in her nature to be bold in her affections, which combined with Curvo’s obliviousness meant she was pining after him for years before he got his act together. But once that happened, he showered her in gifts and affection and their marriage came pretty quickly after that.

Quilla learned weaving from her mother, and while she’s no Þerindë, that immediately endears her to Fëanor and he is very enthusiastically supportive of her craft, which is very overwhelming for her because this is  _ Fëanáro Curufinwë _ and he’s praising  _ her _ ! Fëanor is also very happy that Curvo chose a wife from among his greatest supporters, and while he also likes Maglor’s wife Ezellë, Quilla quickly becomes his favorite daughter-in-law (which Curvo, the favorite son, is very pleased about).

Quilla is a pretty reserved woman and the exuberance and affection in the House of Fëanor is overwhelming for her at first (I see the Fëanorians as all very loving and passionate and supportive of each other even though they do often argue; it takes a strong bond for his sons to all leap to his side and swear the Oath with him). Ezellë is sympathetic - she’s more outspoken and headstrong than Quilla, but she remembers when she first married into this wild family and it was a lot! Ezellë and Quilla quickly become fast friends

Quildalótië is the only one to produce a grandchild for Fëanor, and everyone absolutely adores little Tyelpë. For awhile things are good and happy and Quilla slowly starts feeling more at home among her in-laws and she and Curvo remain very much in love.

But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. As Tyelpë grows up and the unrest of the Noldor gets more intense, Curvo spends less time in the forge or with her and more time doing politics with his dad - and with her dad, too. Liatamë was originally from Nolofinwë’s people, and both Quilla and her mother are not very happy with the growing divide between the different groups of the Noldor. Curvo and Cundondur are staunchly on the side of Fëanor, which slowly starts to drive a rift in both those marriages.

Quilla gets more and more angry, but she generally doesn’t show it - at first she hopes that things will get better on their own, and then she doesn’t know how to speak up because she’s never felt like she wanted to before, and then she doesn’t think that her husband would listen to her if she tried. She tries her best to keep Tyelpë out of things, which mostly works because he’s still fairly young and Curvo is aware that things are getting nasty even if he still thinks he’s 100% right, and he doesn’t want his son involved in that.

Things get worse and worse and eventually culminate in the Flight of the Noldor. This is when her patience runs out and Quilla stops staying quiet. She’s absolutely furious, and this anger has been building for a long time, and she  _ goes off _ at Curvo and puts her foot down. No she is _not_ leaving Aman, and no you are _not_ taking my son with you!! She kind of surprises herself (not to mention Curvo) with how upset and insistent she is, but once she’s made her decision she sticks to it. Tyelpë idolizes his father, and he’s just come of age so she can’t force him to stay, and he ends up leaving with Curvo anyway, but as much as it breaks Quilla’s heart she is DONE with this mess and isn’t putting up with Curvo’s bullshit anymore. She breaks off their marriage (as much as she can) and forces Curvo to exchange rings with her.

Cundondur is a loyal follower of Fëanor and of course goes with him to Middle-earth (well, he tries; he’s one of the people who drowns on the ships) and Liatamë also goes (but with Nolofinwë’s people, with her own parents) and all of Quilla's sisters leave too. But Quilla and her youngest brother stay in Aman, and she seizes her independence, takes over her father’s household, and starts going by her amilessë (Ñillendil) to mark this change in her life (at least in public, she still goes by Quildalótië in private).

She loses all her inhibitions at this point. She’s been quietly watching how court works, and absorbing a lot of information, and though her anger is slow to build she’s a force to be reckoned with when she finally decides to act. She becomes a politician in Arafinwë’s court, and she doesn’t renounce her ties to the House of Fëanor, instead using it to her advantage to repair the relations between the disparate remnants of the Noldor.

When Curvo is eventually reborn, Quildalótië has melted down his ring and refuses to take him back - her resentment runs deep and has had a long time to fester. Ezellë (Maglor’s wife) has remained a true and steadfast friend this whole time (Nerdanel, too, but to a lesser extent) and Ezellë moves back in with Quilla when the Fëanorians are reborn to provide support to her (Ezellë is a writer and she kind of helps write Quilla’s rejection speech for Curvo...although when Maglor eventually returns to Aman she does end up accepting him back into her life). Tyelpë, though, is reborn long before his father and she accepts her son back without any hesitations.

It’s a sad ending for their relationship, but with so much of the story of the Fëanorians' rebirth focused on redemption and forgiveness, this part of it is a contrast: a relationship that is broken beyond repair. Eventually, in the very distant future, she and Curvo may be able to become friends again... but they’re never going to be married in the same way they once were, and in the ages between Curvo’s departure/abandonment and his rebirth Quilla has become almost an entirely different person, and she doesn’t want or need him as a husband anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> [My tag for Quilla on tumblr](http://arofili.tumblr.com/tagged/oc+quildalotie)


End file.
